EU urges Catalonia to comply with environmental measures of previous airport expansion before new enlargement

The European Commission is calling on the Catalan government to comply with the environmental measures expected to be obeyed due to the last Barcelona airport expansion.

Sources of the commission told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that local authorities need to tackle the past issues to approve the new expansion project, which president Salvador Illa presented on Tuesday.

In fact, members of the Catalan government, Spain's airport manager AENA, and the EU Commission met remotely on April 2 to discuss the infrastructure project.

During the meeting, the European authorities asked to "fully implement the required measures to put an end to the sanctions in place," as any resolution would "clarify the base standards for evaluating any new project," sources said.

Meanwhile, the Catalan government ensures that it is working on the situation and plans to solve it by the end of the year. The comments were a response to Nicola Notaro, head of the Compliance & Implementation Unit in DG Environment at the European Commission. Notaro was also attending the meeting and urged that all requests be done "to shelve the sanctioning process."

The process was opened in 2021 due to the effects of the previous airport expansion on the natural area of the Llobregat River delta. The Commission believes the area is home to "an exceptional biodiversity that has a crucial role in migration routes of many European birds."

Following the Habitats Directive (Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora), authorities who believe a project can have a "significant negative impact" on a Nature 2000 area can still greenlight it based on the exception in Article 6.4 after asking Brussels for permission.

The news broke a day after Illa announced a joint agreement between the Catalan government, Spain's transport ministry, and AENA to expand the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat airport with an investment of €3.2 billion.

The project would see an extension of the sea runway, a new satellite terminal, and the refurbishment of the T1 and T2 terminals to accommodate up to 70 million passengers. At the moment, the airport welcomed 55 million passengers in 2024, arriving at its estimated maximum.

Works, if everything goes as planned, would start in 2030 and finish in 2033. The goal is to make Barcelona an "intercontinental hub" to allow Catalans to travel long-haul flights without having to stop in Madrid, Frankfurt, or London.

To compensate for the environmental impact, the deal expects to rewild around 270 hectares, multiplying by 10 the affected surface.